Hi, I am a second year student and at the end of it I was just suspended for a year.
I had a rough first year where I was alone here and commuting as well, I got through it but ended up failing 2 courses which put me on probation.
I came back in my second year with a much better mind set to get the grades and also meet my requirements for my program. My fall 2018 semester was going well but I had some major set backs where I had to cope with a death of a close family member, and being far away from home and as well as anxiety and some mental health issues. I never gave mental health a big importance but it affected my grades this year and I was suspended. It has really got me down but I want to get back on my feet and work towards a better come back.
I want advice in regards that, I will take really long to finish my degree coz of this suspension, do you know if there are any circumstances where they reduce suspension to a semester? Because I’ve already let my parents down and I don’t even know how to face them with this information.
Other than that I am planning to take courses to help me during suspension at the School or Continuing Studies at Uoft, do you think this is a good idea?
Pls advise me if there is something else I can do or look at, because I want to try do my degree as soon as possible.

I hope you reply soon, I really need advice on this.

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hi there,

the only people who would know about the possibility of shortening your year of suspension would be your registrar, or possibly your faculty if it’s beyond your registrar. usually if there’s some kind of loophole or exception, the rules and regulations will mention it and detail how it works. i’ve never seen one for shortening suspension, and still haven’t been able to find anything of the sort. so i highly doubt it’ll be possible to take your suspension down to a term, but if you do want to give it a try you’ll need to check with your registrar.

i do think it’s a good idea to keep taking classes during your year of suspension– it should be easy enough to do so with u of t’s continuing studies, as they’ve got open enrolment. unless money is an issue for you and you need to be working, it’s best to use your year preparing to return to regular classes.

as for other options, i’m not sure you have that many. u of t’s standpoint on suspension is that taking a break will be a useful time for you to get support, re-evaluate your commitments, or recuperate from anything impeding your academic success. as a result, i’m not aware of anything the school will let you do to speed up your degree. even after you come back from suspension, as i’m sure you’re aware, you’ll still be on probation. that means, until you’ve achieved regular academic standing again, you’ll be unable to take more than 5 classes each sem in fall/winter.

all the advice i can offer you, then, is to use your year of suspension the best you can. this is more or less a situation out of your control– what you’ll be able to affect is how well you do once you’re back on probation. so i would focus on that, and on your mental health. i wrote a post a while ago on mental health resources for students, some of which you should still be able to access when you’re on suspension. take the time to take care of yourself! doing school with anxiety etc can be so, so hard– speaking from experience– and it’s always better to get it checked out the same way you would a physical illness. obviously it’s ultimately your call, but there’s no shame in talking to someone about the place you’re in (or have been in).

i’m sorry you’ve gone through what you have, and it’s perfectly understandable that you are where you are now because of it. that would have been rough on anyone, but i admire your resilience and drive to get up and keep going. you got this.

over n out,

aska